Co-CEOs: Sharing the Responsibilities and the Benefits
These days, many entrepreneurs and company founders find themselves contemplating the leadership structure of their new business. Making the wrong decisions at an early stage in any venture can lead to failure of the business and, even worse, a complete breakdown of crucial personal relationships and finances. While having a partner (perhaps more than one) can be a tremendous boost in making your business work, if you are working with the wrong people it can hinder growth and create serious ongoing problems; two heads are not always better than one.
The Pros and the Cons
If not carefully planned, sharing CEO and/or COO roles could lead to damaging delays, obstructive power struggles and possibly devastating conflicts in governance and management strategies. Worst-case scenario, if not promptly addressed these issues could result in the failure of the business.
On the other hand, there can be major benefits from sharing commitments, responsibilities and visions, particularly if the partners bring complementary skill-sets to the relationship. With two of you working together, you can effectively be in two places at one time, you could accelerate some of the decision-making processes and there’s always someone there to mind the shop (everybody needs a holiday at some point, and equally, everybody has personal issues at some point).
So how do you make it work?
You may know each other well, have a lot in common and be well aware of each other’s strengths, but you should also be aware of your differences and possibly conflicting perspectives. It is important that co-CEOs should understand and complement each other’s skills and strengths rather than duplicating them.
Whether you are thinking about starting up a whole new venture, or planning to escalate a current operation, the key is to take the time to always be aware of what your partners are doing. Nobody can be fully hands-on in all aspects of the business, but everybody should know what is happening and what decisions are being considered and/or made (including decisions about whether and when to bring in external specialists).
This relationship will require a considerable amount of collaboration, compromise and communication to make it work. Company founders interested in adopting shared leadership should explore and acknowledge the risks and mitigate them before entering into any formal arrangement.
Before you start
Before you set out on your venture, first make sure that you:
both understand why you’re doing this - to be effective, the reasons for considering co-management must be clear. (Perhaps you recognise that different skill-sets will be needed; maybe each partner will take responsibility for a different area of the business…);
share common goals - you should be mutually confident in each other’s judgements and decisions and your communication channels should be sound;
are confident of your shared visions - be transparent about this discussion, your visions will not change as the business evolves;
trust and respect each other - don’t underestimate this element, it is absolutely crucial to any successful partnership;
know and play to each other’s strengths - this goes back to trust, and you need to know each other fairly well too;
listen to each other - (really hear each other) and be prepared to be generous, flexible and adaptable. If it doesn’t feel right, speak up;
choose wisely - take your time to ensure that you know and trust this person and will be comfortable spending a lot of time with them;
put your agreement in writing - and understand that it will need to be regularly revised. It is almost certain that at some point this will need to be referred to.
Insights and points to note
Having decided that this will be the right move for all concerned, do your research and make note of valuable insights and experiences from other successful business partnerships. Some key points include:
Know when to agree to disagree: You may share a common purpose and full agreement on the basics, but you need to be able to have healthy debates and to productively disagree. Clearly state your disagreements and be prepared to defer to your partner. If needed, seek outside opinions to generate broader perspectives. Most importantly, learn how to compromise. It is very possible that a well-managed disagreement could bring about ideas and inspirations that neither party has previously considered.
Keep lines of communication open: Understand each other’s communication styles, e.g. know how they are likely to react under stress. It is crucial that you establish clear lines of communication with regularly scheduled meetings and check-ins to keep strategies aligned and issues addressed. Be aware of power divisions creeping in, and any associated resentment. Regularly review your shared management policies and structures to assess their effectiveness, and never underestimate honest feedback from stakeholders and employees.
Establish a conflict-resolution mechanism: Ideally before any disagreements occur. Having a process to amicably and constructively resolve conflicts will prevent possibly major operational disruptions. Speak about what would happen if co-management is no longer working - what if circumstances change and your differences become irreconcilable? Will you defer to a board of advisers - if so, who? What if you decide the company should fold? This may never happen but you should still have this discussion before you start off.
Unity in Leadership: Ensure that there can be no confusion about who is Boss. Present a unified front to stakeholders, employees and customers. Consistency in messaging and decision-making is key to maintaining stability and confidence in the business.
Focus on Company success: Make sure you always keep your focus on the success and well-being of the Company rather than any individual achievements or personal agendas.
Be equally committed: It takes a great deal of effort to build a successful business, and co-CEOs should continually be on the same page in terms of the time and effort they are able to commit to the success of the business.
Divide and Conquer: When quick decisions are needed, having to check in with another person could cause unnecessary delays. So make sure you have a clear division of responsibility according to each partner’s skill-sets, this could be based on expertise, experience or personal strengths. Be explicit about what is in each partner’s remit, and be willing to defer to the other person on what is happening in their area. Respect each person’s expertise and have confidence in their abilities.
Consciously shelve your egos: Partners should care more about the success of the business than they do about being right. This will create trust in decisions, promote teamwork throughout the business and keep politics right out of the picture. Do not ever let your ego get in the way of the right decision.
These points are in no particular order of importance, because of course every relationship is unique, but if you are not able to confidently check off any of these points, you should probably give some consideration as to why that is.
Good luck - go forward and prosper!
What do you think?
Are you about to embark on co_CEO?
If you would like to know more, or just have a chat about anything here,
please contact me
0777 560 4378 / www.GenesisGRC.co.uk or book a call
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